If the roster was already filled, what are they supposed to do? It bothers me, though, that Hockey Canada fills so many roster spots so early. There's no need for it.

Exactly my point... if a guy like Jason Spezza is available for the WC and is willing to go.. you don't say no to something like that because you decided to fill up your entire roster before the 1st rd of the playoffs.

Exactly my point... if a guy like Jason Spezza is available for the WC and is willing to go.. you don't say no to something like that because you decided to fill up your entire roster before the 1st rd of the playoffs.

So you go back to a guy who has already agreed to play and say, sorry, we've found somebody better? Hockey Canada would never do that, nor should they.

If the roster was already filled, what are they supposed to do? It bothers me, though, that Hockey Canada fills so many roster spots so early. There's no need for it.

The tournament rules require that a 17 man roster must be submitted to the IIHF some 2-3 weeks before the tournament starts, leaving only 6 spots left for players from teams eliminated from the playoffs. Hockey Canada pretty has to start inviting players as soon as their team is eliminated from the playoffs. If you wait until the end of the 1st round, you wind up with a team that has not practiced together before the tournament starts. Put that up against a team like Finland or Czech Republic who have largely been playing together for the past month, and the result is usually a Canada loss.